News

by Rick Winterson      It’s well known that marijuana has been legalized in Massachusetts.  Medical marijuana is legal as you are reading this.  After a long delay, recreational marijuana (Question 4, approved by voters 54% to 46%) becomes legal at mid-year:   on Sunday, July 1, 2018.  Even though the vote on marijuana was unquestionably in favor of legalizing it, many questions about it still remain.  One of these questions is where to put marijuana retail stores, specifically, where to locate a store here in South Boston? On Tuesday evening, a marijuana retailer named Native Sun “Wellness”, made a presentation to the WBNA (the West Broadway Neighborhood Association), one of South Boston’s highly active civic groups.  The WBNA’s civic area is generally along Lower West [...]

By: Tara Kerrigan Hayes     With summer approaching (and the Seaport scene becoming more congested every season), it’s the perfect time to welcome The Bowery Bar to Dorchester, set to open in mid-June.   As the list of new restaurants grows in our neighbor’s neighborhoods, this one is bound to be an instant hit. Located in the heart of Lower Mills, its name was derived from the definition of bowery (shaded by trees), inspired by its unique 2500 square foot patio. Complete with cooling water misters, flat screen TVs, and antique lounging tubs (you’ll see), this patio is shaping up to be one of Boston’s best outdoor spaces and favorite summer spots, because let’s face it, us Bostonians do love our outdoor drinks time. [...]

by Rick Winterson      Two months ago, South Boston Online reviewed author Steve Ross’s autobiographical book “From Broken Glass” (our April 12 issue, page 11).  We highly recommended it.  In his book, Steve narrated two harrowing stories about himself – as a young boy cruelly enmeshed in the Holocaust for five years during World War II, and as a licensed Psychologist here in Boston after the war ended.  He wrote his two stories in a gripping, parallel fashion, with episodes from both alternating and interlocking with each other. At noon on Tuesday, June 5, in the classic Lecture Room at the Boston Atheneum (10 1/2 Beacon Street), Steve Ross was welcomed as an esteemed guest by 200 of his friends.  He was there for [...]

    by Rick Winterson      Occasionally, South Boston Online runs into people who speak almost entirely about the contributions and efforts others put into the South Boston community.  They don’t choose to talk about themselves.  Instead, they talk about those who were good influences on them.  Such a person is Tommy Noto – the 2018 recipient of the South Boston Collaborative Center’s “Community Hero Award”.  The Award will be conferred on Tommy next Thursday evening, June 14, during the Collaborative’s Spring Fling at The Lawn on D, 6 to 11 p.m. We interviewed Tommy at the Paramount.  During that interview, it became very clear that Tommy is a devoted family man.  Well, actually, Tommy has two families.  He’s married to Kristin (Labbe) from [...]

By Richard Campbell The various short-term revenue bills going through a series of transformations on the city and state levels have been accompanied by a fair amount of revision, delay and controversy. When Airbnb went after City Councilor Michelle Wu with a mass email campaign in mid-April, they not only got their facts wrong about the proposed restrictions on Airbnb services in Boston, but they brought a flurry of support from other city councilors for Ms. Wu’s positions. The company’s twitter criticism and mischaracterization of Councilor Wu’s well-deserved reputation as an advocate for the residents of Boston (suggesting that she was in the pocket of the hotel industry) aside: Airbnb officials incorrectly stated that the bill proposed a thirty-day cap on short term rentals. The [...]

  Join us for a fireworks display over Boston Harbor.  The Boston Harbor fireworks display will be hosted on Friday, June 8, beginning at 9:30 p.m. Fireworks will be launched from Columbia Point, displayed over Dorchester Bay and viewable from beaches along Dorchester and South Boston. The fireworks display is a part of a series of public activations and celebratory events being offered as the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Annual Meeting is hosted in Boston this week: www.usmayors.org

by Rick Winterson      The ostensible cause – an excellent cause, of course – was the cause of fitness among students at the James F. Condon K-8 School.  In addition to “Fitness”, the students, who assembled in the Condon gym, had a marvelous time that included modified street hockey.  The occasion was an interactive press conference last Wednesday at mid-day to highlight a new partnership to support Fitness in Boston’s schools.  Needless to say, the vocal cords and cheering voices of the students are already quite “FIT” There was quite a weighty roster of attendees:  Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang, E.D. of the Bruins Foundation Bob Sweeney, Delaware North CEO Charlie Jacobs, Police Commissioner Bill Evans, Condon Principal Bobby Chisholm, the [...]

by Richard Campbell On a suitably gray Memorial Day the Navy kept its jewel, the oldest warship in the world, the USS Constitution open for public viewing and presented a 21-gun salute in honor of those who have given their lives in service to our nation. For those of you who haven’t visited the Charlestown Navy yard recently to see the results of the twelve-million-dollar overhaul of this ship, the trip is well worth making if only to get on board and see presentations by the crew. From the perspective of a brief naval history up close and having a great day out, the Charlestown Navy Yard is an appealing annual summer ritual. Besides Old Ironsides, the yard contains the World War II gem, the [...]

by Rick Winterson      Last week’s first ever Student Entrepreneur Workshop at Excel High School was an exciting, remarkable event.   It was sponsored by LaunchByte, an execution-focused investment firm and startup hub.  Hosted by Excel’s Headmaster Renee McCall, the Workshop challenged five groups of Excel students to develop their own original ideas for new, viable businesses.   The five groups were tasked with brainstorming and then designing new concepts for a marketable/saleable mobile application - which these five groups of (very) promising student entrepreneurs certainly did. LaunchByte is a highly interesting, comparatively new firm.  It was founded just over three years ago in 2015 by its CEO, Tan Kabra.  Unique in its own way, LaunchByte is a startup hub that focuses on many entrepreneurial steps [...]

By Richard Campbell A glittering evening brought 1,700 participants to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center this past Tuesday May 15th as business leaders of Boston met for the Annual Chamber of Commerce meeting entitled Now>Next. With a somewhat self-congratulatory emphasis upon the great business accomplishments of this past year, Boston’s global leadership, and a nod to the future of the city’s continued success in the international economy, the evening focus was what makes Boston a unique environment to do business, and Sweet Harmony an A cappella group sang the national anthem and popular ballads.  Before the event there was a brief cocktail meet and greet outside the main hall at the BCEC. After opening comments from Annual Meeting Co-chairs, Angus Leary and Kimberly Vaughn, [...]